John waterhouse



(No Model.)

J. WATERHOUSE.

GUARD RAIL FOR RAILWAYS;

Patented Aug. 13, 1889.

i Q n Z 2 QOitwaogao I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WATERHOUSE, OF NE\V YORK, Y.

GUARD-RAIL FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent .No. 408,906, dated August 13, 1889. Application filed April 10, 1889. Serial No. 306,700. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN WATEEHoUsE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the count-y of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guard-Rails for Rail ways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to railroad-rails; and it consists of certain novel features in the construction of guards for the same, which will be fully described in the following specification and claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

It has heretofore been customary in the construction of railways to place at the curves of the road and opposite the frogs a T-rail. This rail is located upon the gage side of the inner rail and acts as a guard, a suitable space being left between the heads of the rails, according to the base of the wheels and the radius of the curves. The flanges of the car-wheels coming in contact with this guardrail hold the car on the track. It frequently happens, however, in this construction that the wheels mount and pass over the guardrail; and, moreover, the guard-rails are quickly worn worn out and destroyed by the constant grinding of the wheel-flanges to which they are subjected, and must frequently be replaced. This is especially the case in elevatedrailway systems, where the travel is constant and the curves necessarily numerous and sharp.

The object of my invention is to providea construction which shall remedy these objections and afford more complete protection from derailment to passing trains, and to this end I construct the guard in two parts, one of said parts being removable and the other permanent. The removable part is designed to sustain the greater portion of the wear from the impinging wheels and to serve ordinarily as a sufficient guard. The other part is permanently fixed in. place and acts as a supplemental guard in extreme cases.

I11 the drawings illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a sectional view of arail provided with my improved guard and sh owing a wheel mounted thereon. the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate identical parts throughout.

A is an ordinary rail, secured in place in the usual manner. The guard is located upon the gage [side of this rail at a suitable distance therefrom, and is constructed in two parts a b. The part a is preferably of the form shown in the figures, and is permanently secured in place by means of the bracket a which is rigidly secured to the cross-ties along its base portion and projects over the flanged base a of the part a, and is rigidly secured to flange a, with which the part a is provided at the upper extremity. I may use othermeans, however, of securing the part a in place. The inner face of the part a is inclinedalong a portion of the length, and is shouldered at (0 The part Z) is preferably made in the form shown in Fig. 1, and is so constructed as to fit snugly in the shouldered portion of the part Ct. Aportion of the inner face of the part 7) projects beyond the face of the part a, and is preferably of the curved form shown. The two parts a and b are rig- Fig. 2 is a plan view of idly secured together by bolts and nuts, as at c. In order to maintain a proper distance between the rail and its guard, I provide blocks d (l', which are provided each with an inclined face, as shown. These blocks are held in place by means of bolts, which pass through them and through the rail and guard and assist in holding the part I) in position. The blocks may be provided with slots, as indicated in dotted lines, through which the securing-bolts pass, and by this construction they are made adjustable, so that the space between the rail and the guard may be increased or diminished or either of the blocks be removed without disturbing the other.

In operation it is obvious that ordinarily the flange of the car-wheel when thrown outwardly will come in contact with the part b and will be held from further lateral movement thereby; but in case the wheel should be forced over the part b the supplemental guard formed by the inclined side of the part (b will prevent derailment and tend to force the wheel back upon the rail. The greater part of the wear comes upon the part b, and this part can readily be removed and replaced by removing the blocks (Z d, the said blocks being provided with inclined faces for this purpose.

It is evident the details of the construction heretofore described may be consider- :bly modified Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

hat I claim, and desi re to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A guard for railroad-rails, the inner face of which is provided with. an outwardly-in clined portion and with a curved portion, substantially as described.

2. A guard for railroad-rails, the lower portion of the inner face of which is inclined at a greater angle than the upper portion, substantially as described.

3. A guard for railroad-rails, consisting of a permanent part provided with an inclined face and a recess below the same, and a removable part fitting in said recess and being provided with a curved face, substantially as described.

4. In a guard for railroado'ails, the combi nation, with a fixed portion provided with an. inclined face, of a removable portion extend ing inwardly of said inclined face, and a strengthening and securing bracket fastened to the top of said permanent portion and along its base, substantially as described.

5. A guard for railroad-rails, consisting of a removable part adapted to sustain the greatest wear and a permanent supplemental part extending above the same, the said rcn'iovable part being nearer the wheel of a passing car, substantially as described.

0. A guard for a railroad-rail, consisting of a permanent and a removable part, the said permanent part extending above the removable part and having a portion of its inner face inclined, substantially as described.

7 A guard for a railroad-rail, consisting of a permanent part provided with a recessed portion and a removable part, the said guard being held in place in proper relation to the rail by means of blocks, portions of which are inclined, substantially as described.

8. A guard for a railroad-rail, consisting of a permanent part provi ded with a recessed portion and a removable part, the said guard being held in place in proper relation to the rail by means of slotted blocks, portions of which are inclined, substantially as described.

9. A guard for a railroad-rail, consisting of a permanent part and a removable part, the said guard being held in position in proper relation to the rail by means of adjustable blocks, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of: two witnesses.

JOHN \VATERI IO USE.

W itnesscs:

0. D. Ilommn, R. M. BEATTY. 

